Finished at last! Table top quilt, hand quilted

I cannot even remember how long ago it was when my mom showed me her beautiful antique quilt top, and I said, "Oh, just give it to me so I can quickly quilt it up for you, Mom!" I think she bought it through a quilt dealer.

Well, "quickly"...doesn't exactly describe the rate at which I get things done sometimes, but I will say that finishing this small quilt was extremely enjoyable and I am thrilled with the end result.

The quilt top itself was pieced out of indigo and white fabrics by an unknown maker circa 1890. Whoever she was, I hope that she's looking down on it thinking - awesome - it's finally turned into a quilt after 120+ years.

My mom's kitchen is an amazing place with more light coming in the windows than any other kitchen I have ever been in. I can only dream of having this much beautiful light in my house anywhere, let alone in the kitchen.

She has it decorated mostly in blue and white, so if she puts this quilt on top of the center of her dining room table, I think it will look pretty smart.

I was trying to finish it for Mother's Day, so I guess it's sort of a belated gift, but anyway I think she'll like it.

Using Pigma Pens, I inked the names of her grandchildren on one of the plain white blocks. This will remain there as a permanent part of the quilt, and will not wash out.

I just love the look of inking words on fabric, and think this turned out pretty cool. She is expecting another grandchild VERY soon, so I left a spot to add the baby's name there too.

I used YLI's hand quilting thread in light brown color (to show off the stitches a bit, how flashy of me!) I have been tending to this use lately, and find that it gets fewer knots than other options.

My next post really should discuss the incredible quilted gift she gave me for Mother's Day (it's another WOW), but I'll need to photograph it for you so you can understand how spoiled I am.